Hot Topics:

Loveland's health, safety must be kept whole

By Irene Fortune Guest Columnist

Posted:
10/18/2013 11:11:46 PM MDT

Irene Fortune

I'm running because I am convinced my father was right -- everyone benefits when people get involved in government to the extent they can. I recognized his wisdom when my work as a chemical regulation professional revealed the extent to which lobbyists influenced government at the federal and state levels. They seemed to act as if their needs were the only ones that mattered.

Back then, 50- to 70-hour work weeks restricted me from political activity, but having worked hard and saved hard, my husband Jim and I were able to retire early. We chose Loveland because of its high quality of life, safety and access to the mountains. To my surprise, I couldn't relax. I remembered my grandfather's contribution to his community. He believed that taking care of neighbors was important. He had immigrated to the U.S. as a young man. He had a new farm and young children when the local rural Michigan school board ran out of money. My grandfather answered this crisis by mortgaging his farm to fund the school and pay teachers so everyone's children could go back to school. He mortgaged his farm because he didn't want everyone's children's future to get mortgaged. All he asked in return was a position on the school board, which was quickly granted.

I've spent years volunteering and serving on boards and commissions, investing in community and learning Loveland's history, challenges and opportunities from my network and from our city elders as I drive them to their destinations as a volunteer SAINT driver.

Advertisement

One of the reasons I'm running for City Council is because Loveland faces drilling for oil and gas, a.k.a. "fracking," inside city limits, and many people are concerned. I wasn't one of the petitioners, but I advised them scientifically when they asked. The organizers knew I'd worked almost 30 years in chemical manufacturing and that I'd studied oil and gas development since I became aware of it on Colorado's Western Slope in 2007. I take the question of health, safety and property value impact very seriously.

Based on my experience in chemical manufacturing, (which remains profitable with far-more protective regulations for water and air pollution and worker safety), I have on gone on record at City Council, the state Legislature, Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and Colorado Air Pollution Control Division, requesting tighter regulations for health, safety, environmental protection and protection of surface property in many types of oil and gas activity, including wells, pipelines and compressor stations. In my opinion, Loveland City Council needs an industrial scientist who understands the risk of health effects from chemical exposure.

In our city, everyone matters. I will represent you and our neighbors full-time. Just as I did when making business decisions, I'll set personal preferences aside when deciding how to vote on city business. I will take into consideration the needs of the people who live, work, raise a family, run a business, retire or assist parents in Loveland.

I will uphold the City Charter, including the right to petition.

Loveland will benefit from the skills I developed from my years in private industry: leadership, teamwork, making rational decisions based on broad information and applying long-term planning to help Loveland recover from the flood, to assure that our police and fire can protect us and to assure reliable infrastructure and utilities -- all essential for safety and quality of life.

I will stay in touch. I will continue driving for SAINT to hear from our elders, I will host coffees and town hall meetings. I'll take time to listen and understand your concerns and the reasons why you hold those concerns, and to discuss the range of possible options.

I am truly the candidate who cares about you -- about your safety and quality of life, with the time and knowledge to make a difference. I would appreciate your vote.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.